Summary
Kenny’s deaths on South Park were initially treated as moments of comedic gross-out, but “Kenny Dies” established that his character was genuinely gone. Fans demanded Kenny’s return after his death in season 5, leading to his revival in the season 6 Christmas episode, “Red Sleigh Down.” Kenny’s seemingly magical resurrection at the end of “Red Sleigh Down” set up his best character arc, revealing that he was an immortal being who respawns every time he dies.
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While South Park always obscured Kenny’s face, the show made his entire existence more mysterious with season 6’s Christmas episode. South Park spent its first few seasons repeatedly killing Kenny McCormick, the faceless, wordless member of the show’s central quartet. Before Butters became a regular fixture in the series, Kenny was effectively a luckless one-joke character who existed solely to suffer a violent death in every episode. Eventually, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone got tired of this gag and killed off Kenny for good in season 5, episode 13, “Kenny Dies.”
Until this point, Kenny’s many deaths on South Park were treated as moments of gross-out comedy, but “Kenny Dies” made it clear that the character was genuinely gone. Kenny didn’t appear in the rest of South Park season 5 and only became a substantial member of the central group thanks to fan pressure. Parker and Stone admitted in a season 6 DVD commentary that viewers demanded Kenny’s return, thus accidentally facilitating one of the best South Park Christmas episodes.
Related South Park: 10 Most Gruesome Kenny Deaths, Ranked Up until the sixth season of the hit comedy series, South Park, Kenny McCormick dies in every single episode. Here are the most visceral deaths.
South Park’s Season 6 Christmas Episode Revived Kenny
According to Trey Parker, South Park’s fans wanted Kenny back after his season 5 death, so season 6, episode 17, “Red Sleigh Down,” was written to facilitate this return. While some of South Park’s Christmas episodes feature violent, gruesome plots, few can outdo the cynicism of “Red Sleigh Down.” This boundary-pushing outing aired in 2002 and satirized the U.S. invasion of Iraq. In “Red Sleigh Down,” Cartman’s attempts to be “nice” in the eyes of Santa Claus lead him to bring Christmas to the embattled nation. Soon, Santa Claus and Jesus attempt to escape Iraq with Kyle, Cartman, and Stan in a spoof of Black Hawk Down.
Although Jesus dies at the end of the episode, this doesn’t set up Kenny’s seemingly magical resurrection. Instead, Kenny simply appears at the end of “Red Sleigh Down” without explanation, and none of the other characters demand one. The absurdity of this unlikely occurrence isn’t without consequences. Kenny’s ability to resurrect himself and his friends failing to even notice that he’s gone set up his best arc. In the seasons that followed this Christmas episode, South Park finally explained what was going on with Kenny’s many deaths.
South Park’s Kenny Return Set Up His Best Arc
South Park’s heroes were barely fazed when their canonically dead friend reappeared, and this set up the later revelation that Kenny had secretly been an immortal being all along. In season 14’s “Coon and Friends” trilogy of episodes, South Park revealed that Kenny respawns every time he dies. His friends have no recollection of this happening, which retroactively explains why they seem so nonplussed by his return in “Red Sleigh Down.” Thus, with that Christmas episode’s best throwaway gag, South Park set up Kenny’s most surprising character reveal years in advance by depicting his friends not noticing the latest in Kenny’s string of temporary deaths.
South Park
Summary: Beginning in 1997, South Park has become one of the most successful and popular adult animations ever. The five-time Emmy-winning series follows Stan Marsh, Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, as they find themselves in unbelievable situations in South Park, Colorado, while trying to navigate the world as fourth graders.
Cast: Trey Parker, Matt Stone
Release Date: 1997-08-13
Seasons: 26
Main Genre: Comedy
Genres: Comedy, Sitcom
Story By: Trey Parker
Writers: Trey Parker
Network: Comedy Central
Streaming Service(s): Netflix
Franchise(s): South Park
Directors: Trey Parker
Showrunner: Trey Parker
Season List: South Park – Season 1, South Park – Season 2, South Park – Season 3, South Park – Season 4, South Park – Season 5, South Park – Season 6, South Park – Season 7, South Park – Season 8, South Park – Season 9, South Park – Season 10, South Park – Season 11, South Park – Season 12, South Park – Season 13, South Park – Season 14, South Park – Season 15, South Park – Season 16, South Park – Season 17, South Park – Season 18, South Park – Season 19, South Park – Season 20, South Park – Season 21, South Park – Season 22, South Park – Season 23, South Park – Season 24, South Park – Season 25, South Park – Season 26